Telephone service has created communication channels worldwide, and those channels continue to expand with the advent of cellular and other wireless services. A person can simply take a telephone off-hook and dial a destination number or press a send button and be connected to a telephone line around the world.
Today, the public switching telephone network (PSTN), wireless networks, and private networks telephone services are based on the identification of the wireless telephone or wireline that a calling party uses. Services are personalized according to wireless telephone or wireline telephone number, where services associated with one telephone number are not accessible for another telephone number assigned to the same subscriber. For example, there is typically a first set of service features and billing options assigned to a home line number, a second set of service features and billing options assigned to an office line number, and a third set of service features and billing options assigned to a cellular telephone number. The networks process calls to and from each of these different subscriber telephones based on a separate telephone number.
One problem occurs where multiple people utilize a single wireless or wireline telephone number to receive calls. Only one set of services is provided to the number, regardless of who receives the call. Therefore, callees are limited to the services selected by the subscriber of a line number.
In addition, where multiple people utilize a single wireless or wireline telephone number for receiving calls, the subscriber of the line is billed for any charges incurred with use of the line. For example, a call return service that calls the number that last called, may be billed per use of the service to the line subscriber.
One of the services often billed to a line number receiving a call is a collect calling service. With a collect call, a caller dials a number to access a collect calling service provider. The collect calling service provider then prompts the caller to dial a number. The collect calling service accesses the dialed number and requests an acceptance of the collect call from the person answering the phone. Upon agreement to answer the call, the cost of the call is billed to the subscriber associated with the line number, whether or not that subscriber is the individual agreeing to receive the collect call.
Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for specifying services available at a device utilized to receive a call according to a particular caller, where multiple callers may utilize the device to receive calls. In addition, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for billing for the use of a line and the services provided thereto according to callee, rather than according to the line subscriber, such that a callee's billing plan follows the callee to lines answered by the callee.